Adjustable cap remover for jars and bottles



1955 D. R. CAMPBELL 2,698,549

ADJUSTABLE CAP REMOVER FOR JARS AND BOTTLES Filed June 4, 1952 FIG. I. /7

2 I: M 20 39 V v /6 I N VEN TOR. Y Q M 9 United States Patent ADJUSTABLE CAP REMOVER F OR JARS AND BOTTLES Dorothy R. Campbell, Valley Cottage, N. Y.

Application June 4, 1952, Serial No. 291,755

2 Claims. (Cl. 81-342) This invention relates to implements for opening bottles and jars.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved opener for removing lids and covers from jars and bottles including vacuum sealed lift caps and crimped bottle tops. The invention includes features that make the construction simpler and less expensive than the prior art.

The preferred construction of the invention is made in such a way that all parts can be made from metal stampings, and with a minimum of forming operations performed on the stampings.

Other features of the invention relate to an improved screw cap opener with a slide jaw, and an operating handle on the slide jaw that is conveniently swung into and out of engagement with a rack. The sliding jaw is moved into a position adjacent the cap while the handle is disengaged from the rack; and as the handle is pressed down or lowered toward the rack, it engages gear teeth of its gear segment with the rack to obtain a high mechanical advantage in the final movement of the slide jaw.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear, or be pointed out, as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Figure l is a perspective view of a jar and bottle opener embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, detail view of a portion of the handle shown in Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a view of the stamping from which the sliding frame is constructed.

The jar opener includes a body portion or rack element which has a fixed jaw 11 at one end. This fixed jaw is preferably of one-piece construction with and formed by bending down one end of the body portion. There is a movable frame 12 which is slidable along the rack element 10. There are stops at opposite ends of the rack element for preventing the movable frame 12 from sliding 01f either end of the rack element.

At one end of the rack element the stops comprise extensions 13 at opposite sides of the rack element, and the movable frame is not wide enough to slide past these extensions 13. At the other end of the rack element 13 there are upwardly bent lugs 14 for preventing the movable frame from sliding off the end of the rack element, and for securing the handle of the apparatus against sidewise thrust when operating it to remove screw caps.

The upper surface of the rack element 10 has ridges or teeth 16 thereon which comprise a rack. There is a handle 17 with teeth 18 at its lower end for engaging the ridges or teeth 16 of the rack. When the handle 17 is pushed downwardly, it is located between the upwardly bent lugs 14. The width of the handle 17 is only slightly less than the distance between the lugs 14 so that these lugs prevent any substantial sidewise movement of the handle 17 when a sidewise force is applied to the handle 17 to unscrew a cap gripped by the apparatus.

The teeth 18 form a sector of a gear with the center of curvature of the gear sector substantially coincident with the axis of axles 20 which extend from opposite sides of the handle 17 and into holes through upstanding flanges 22 of the movable frame 12.

The movable jaw of the apparatus is a jaw 24 secured to the under side of the movable frame 12. When the handle 17 is rocked counter clockwise in Figure 1, beyond a predetermined limit, all of the teeth 18 of the gear segment are disengaged from the teeth 16 of the rack, and

2,698,549 Patented Jan. 4, 1955 the movable frame 12 is free to slide into any position along the length of the rack element 10.

In the operation of the invention, the movable jaw 24 is brought into contact with a screw cap while the handle 17 is raised and while the teeth of the gear segment on the handle are out of engagement with the ridges or teeth 16 of the rack. The handle is then swung downwardly to bring its gear segment into mesh with the ridges or teeth 16 of the rack, and during the continued movement of the handle 17 into contact with the top of the rack element, the length of the gear segment imparts only the necessary minimum amount of forward movement required to clamp the movable jaw against the cap. If any greater movement were obtained, before the handle 17 contacted with the top of the rack element there would be danger of damage to the cap, or even breaking the top of a glass jar or bottle because of the great leverage obtained with the handle 17.

At the end of the rack element 10, opposite to the fixed jaw 11, there is a hole 26 through the rack element for hanging the jar opener on a hook or other support.

Figure 3 shows a metal stamping 28 from which the movable frame 12 is constructed. This metal stamping has a mid portion 30 which extends across the bottom surface of the rack element, and has extensions 32 which are bent upwardly to form the flanges 22 of the movable frame. There are holes 33, punched in the stamping 28 for receiving the lugs 20. At one side of the mid portion 30 there is a jaw extension 34 which is bent downwardly to form the movable jaw 24 of the jar opener.

This jaw extension 34 has teeth 36 at its lower edge and the edge portion having the teeth 36 is bent along and below a line 33 to provide a recess 39 just above the teeth 36. These teeth engage with the periphery of a screw cap clamped by the apparatus. Above the recess 39 there are pointed ridges 40 which provide additional teeth to increase the friction of the jaw against the jar cap. The fixed jaw 11 is formed with similar teeth 36 and pointed ridges 40 separated by a recess 39.

The teeth 36, immediately below the recess 39, are spaced approximately three-eighths inch below the bottom surface of the rack element 10. This disposes the teeth in position to engage under the edge of a vacuum or clinch-on cap. The edges of such caps are always slightly extended so that the bottom portion of the cap will extend into the recess 39, below the ridges 40, when the ridges 40 of the opener are brought into contact with the cap. In order to remove vacuum and crimped-on tops, the apparatus is clamped against the opposite sides of such caps, and downward pressure is then applied to the portion of the handle 17 beyond the fixed jaw 11. The teeth 36 of the movable jaw lift the edge of the cap while the fixed jaw 11 and the adjacent bottom surface of the rack element serve as a fulcrum about which the opener swings in removing vacuum and crimped-on caps.

The preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A top remover comprising a rack element having teeth thereon and having a fixed jaw secured thereto, a movable jaw carried by a frame that slides along the rack element to bring the movable jaw into position to press a top against the fixed jaw, and lever-operated means for imparting only the necessary minimum amount of additional movement required to clamp the movable jaw securely against the to said lever-operated means including a handle pivotally connected to the frame and angularly movable about said connection to swing the handle toward and from the top face of the rack element, and a gear segment on the handle adjacent to the frame and with the center of curvatiue of the gear segment substantially co-incident with the pivotal connection of the handle to the frame, the gear segment extending for a limited angular distance about the center on which the handle swings, and being in such relation to the handle that it meshes with the rack teeth when the handle is pressed into contact with the rack element and clears the rack teeth whenever the handle moves away from the rack element by more than a predetermined acute angle.

2. The top remover described in claim 1, and in which the rack element has a top face and the teeth of the rack element extend across the full width of the top face and at right angles to side edges of the rack element, and in which the fixed jaw extends downwardly from one end of the rack element and from a bottom face and the movable jaw also extends downwardly away from the bottom face of the rack element, and in which the handle moves toward and from the top face of the rack element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

